LEMONHEADS: Classic or Dud?

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inasmuch as lemonheads = evan dando + one ace collaborator, whether it be ben deily or tom morgan or nic dalton or whoever it happens to be at the moment, they're classic in a singer/songwriters-masquerading-as-sad-weird-catchy-buzzy-guitar-pop kinda way.

whenever it's just dando alone, or dando and a band of two lessers, it's never as good.

"into your arms," which none of the above had a hand in writing but which the dando-plus-various-aussies lineup made their own, is just plain pure pop classic.

fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 27 September 2004 04:23 (twenty-one years ago)

but since it appears i'm not quite giving evan credit for anything, i should add that "rockin' stroll," which is all his, is also pure pop classic.

fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 27 September 2004 04:29 (twenty-one years ago)

wow. i just downloaded all the songs i remember by them and i can't believe how good they are. he really has a great voice. i love bands that do a lot of covers, though i was dissapointed by dando's version og "ballad of el goodo"

Magic City (ano ano), Monday, 27 September 2004 04:31 (twenty-one years ago)

He co-wrote "If I could talk.." with Eugene Kelly, right?

Great moment was during Evan's acoustic gig at the Corner in 2002, Tom Morgan and cohorts came on for the encore and ran through a few electric versions of early 'Heads stuff.

Yep, 7th, 8th and 9th for the Smudge gigs. May not make it to the one at the Espy though.

(x-post)

wombatX (wombatX), Monday, 27 September 2004 04:33 (twenty-one years ago)

he does have a purty voice

amateur!!!st (amateurist), Monday, 27 September 2004 04:33 (twenty-one years ago)

(x-post)

yup, that's an evan/eugene song and indeed it's a great one.

wombat, please tell smudge (and, while you're at it, sneeze) to come to the u.s. for crissakes. i've been trying to tell them myself but they don't listen.

fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 27 September 2004 04:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I'll mention it.. although I think Kit may be your man - he was acting as doorman last time Sneeze were in Melbourne..

wombatX (wombatX), Monday, 27 September 2004 04:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I've been waiting about five years for a Smudge show myself, although I've been lucky enough to catch The Givegoods and Sneeze a few times over the past year.

wombatX (wombatX), Monday, 27 September 2004 04:45 (twenty-one years ago)

you can hardly get a sneeze cd in the u.s., never mind a show.

fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 27 September 2004 04:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Sneeze went to the US once! in the '90s! Dando played drums.

(although they toured Europe and the UK in 2002, and supported themselves with Smudge and Godstar cover bands...)

I dare say if an American label were to put out a Smudge compilation and pay for airfares, they'd be happy to come. But otherwise, chances are subterraneanly low that there'd be the interest from audiences or promoters - they're only doing five dates on this October tour, ahead of a tenth-anniversary double-disc reissue of the first album, and they effectively split up five years ago (Evan supported, solo, at their farewell gig and came on to sing a few songs during the Smudge set. until he fell over during Divan and just lay on the floor for five minutes before crawling offstage) - and Adam and Alison have dayjobs blah blah blah.

though if the shows and Manilow re-release go well I reckon I won't be the only one urging Nic and Tom to consider the wisdom of a best-of! educate the kids and cash in on that early-90s nostalgia market that's going to rear up any day now just mark my words.

"into your arms," which none of the above had a hand in writing but which the dando-plus-various-aussies lineup made their own, is just plain pure pop classic.

Nic actually had a tiny hand in writing it: he went to work in the morning and told Robyn to come up with another couple of songs so they could finish off the album. he got home and she'd written Into Your Arms and Don't Slow Down from scratch - when covered, one became the Lemonheads' biggest hit and the other Ratcat's second-biggest. not bad for an afternoon's work.

Great moment was during Evan's acoustic gig at the Corner in 2002, Tom Morgan and cohorts came on for the encore and ran through a few electric versions of early 'Heads stuff.

That was a reunion of tribute band Lick! expect another in 2013 I guess

kit brash (kit brash), Monday, 27 September 2004 12:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Sneeze went to the US once! in the '90s! Dando played drums.

i was there! so were lots of other people! (though, granted, this was new york, which is not your average american town.) it made me a fan for life. and then they ... never ... came ... back.


fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 27 September 2004 13:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Otm with the early '90s nostalgia thing. I'm sure with some gentle emphasis on the Lemon connection Smudge could pull a crowd in the states.

The Half-a-Cow website mentions the possibility of new material in 2005..

wombatX (wombatX), Monday, 27 September 2004 23:35 (twenty-one years ago)

me like

weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 15:52 (twenty-one years ago)

wombat REPORT!

kit brash (kit brash), Sunday, 10 October 2004 23:35 (twenty-one years ago)

They were awesome. I went to the show on Thursday upstairs at the Tote - very very tiny venue and pleasantly shambolic set (Tom using a drum mic stand precariously balanced on a chair) - set included Grant McLennan, Mike Love, Outdoor Type, Tenderfoot, Divan, Scary Cassettes & heaps more. Bass guy (his name has popped out of my head) was pretty rusty but Tom and Alison were on great form. I had a drunken conversation with Tom after the show suggesting that Smudge should play my girlfriends birthday party in December, he very kindly humoured me and said that if they happened to be in Melbourne they would do it for free, but that that wasn't likely to happen. He also put our names on the door for the Friday show at the Rob Roy. Sadly he got my name wrong and the door guy wasn't very helpful so we ended up paying to get in anyway, but the nice intention was there!

The Rob Roy was packed out on Friday, the crowd significantly larger than when Sneeze and the Givegoods played there. They played a similar setlist to Thursday but augmented by a couple of Alison-sung numbers including Lighten Up Hank. The guy from the Smallgoods played guitar on a couple of tracks, then later Nic Dalton came on and they played Tea Toast & Turmoil. Tom's vocals were annoyingly inaudible throughout, he kept asking for them to be turned up but there was no perceivable difference. Great atmosphere compensated for the technical problems though. No new stuff but I guess they may have been curious to see how many people would show up given that they've been away (from Melbourne at least) for so long. If that was the case then they would have been mightily encouraged from the crowd reaction, all the old favourites were joyously received.

Couldn't make the St Kilda show on Saturday - hopefully they will be back before too long.

wombatX (wombatX), Monday, 11 October 2004 02:45 (twenty-one years ago)


DWBGW McLennan HOORAY, don't think I've ever seen them (or Tom/Tofu Cock/Smudgestar) play that ever evar. I imagine there will be some more substantial interstate gigging during the summer (ie new Manilow out/school holidays)...

kit brash (kit brash), Monday, 11 October 2004 04:13 (twenty-one years ago)

They didn't play McLennan on the friday actually, I think because the bassist struggled with it when they played at the Cobra. He muttered something like "D'you think we could play some songs I actually know?" after they played it.

wombatX (wombatX), Monday, 11 October 2004 04:33 (twenty-one years ago)

d'oh. that was before he joined, but still, they're going to be promoting an album that he didn't play on either...

kit brash (kit brash), Monday, 11 October 2004 04:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Maybe Adam'll have to get on the phone to Duncs..
You going this weekend?

wombatX (wombatX), Monday, 11 October 2004 05:46 (twenty-one years ago)


at one point they were looking for as many people as possible to write up their memories of The Mystery Of Duncs for the reissue liner notes - I get the impression he may have vanished into the ether.

yes, going to both gigs, attempting to balance flogging CDs with bouncing up and down and grinning. presumably!

kit brash (kit brash), Monday, 11 October 2004 23:20 (twenty-one years ago)

It's a shame you weren't on the door last Friday, you may have been able to sort out the name mix-up. Not that I begrudge paying $10 in the slightest, I was just nerdishly excited about having my name 'on the door'.

wombatX (wombatX), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 02:40 (twenty-one years ago)

"He's a wombat, yeah, and there's a big X on his t-shirt, right? Where's the confusion?"

kit brash (kit brash), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 10:24 (twenty-one years ago)

How were the Sydney gigs kit?
Sadly it looks like they won't be playing any more gigs at the Rob Roy:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/15/1097784048775.html

wombatX (wombatX), Sunday, 17 October 2004 23:21 (twenty-one years ago)

The Katoomba gig was a bit of a shambles. The number of punters was matched by the number of band-members and associates, and while Sekiden played well and had decent sound, Smudge had a terrible mix and even worse problems onstage, stopping for several minutes between most songs to try and sort out foldback'n'feedback. Every time someone got up for extra guitar, things would also fall apart. But Nic had learnt Outdoor Type (AS COVERED IN CLASSIC STYLEE BY YE LEMONHEADS, ON-TOPIC FANS) the day before, and played very well on it.

[Also got to hear some mixes from the in-progress Nic Dalton solo album (THAT'S NIC DALTON, FORMER BASSIST FOR THE LEMONHEADS, CLASSIC OR DUD?) in the carpark, and that could be pretty classic itself. No amplification, banjo & mandolin & string section on every song, all songs about heartbreak.]

Sydney rocked total balls, though. Modern Giant have written some new pop songs following the radio success (Triple J AND Radio National) of Keep On Movin', Sekiden played a blinder (and shifted almost three times as much merch as Smudge - though there they have the advantage of their entire career coming after Smudge's last release), and Smudge were blowing away the previous night's performance by soundcheck.

All the hits (INCLUDING POPULAR LEMONHEADS TUNES LIKE "DOWN ABOUT IT", DON'T YOU HATE IT WHEN AUSTRALIANS TAKE OVER A THREAD?), Scary Cassettes and Don't Wanna Be did get aired, halfway through Tom just gave up and started asking for requests. Leticia Nischang got up for guitar on I Was Born To Change The World. Nic had been on and off on Friday, but tonight came on about an hour in and just stayed onstage. He'd only learnt five songs, but I'm pretty sure he played a lot more than that. The set-closer was a cover of Whole Lotta Rosie with Alison singing (!), and the encore was Divan plus She Cracked by the Modern Lovers, with Mirko from Sekiden on extra vocals and handclaps.

Plus it was packed! And yes, shame about the Rob Roy - great venue, and so excellent that they had the accomodation for touring bands upstairs...

kit brash (kit brash), Monday, 18 October 2004 00:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Sounds like the Sydney gig was the pick of the tour.

I like the sound of this ex-Lemonheads bass player Nic Dalton's solo album - the mandolin and banjo on the last Sneeze album rocked my world.

wombatX (wombatX), Monday, 18 October 2004 01:53 (twenty-one years ago)


The opening track will be a version of There's Nobody Coming Over (previously recorded for a The Kombi Nation 7"), and Nic's singing on it is about five times better than any vocal performance he's ever put on record before. The whole thing, from what I've heard, has something of a slight country-Elvis vibe.

*all other songs are new, though some co-written with 1ucy 1eh/v\ann have been recorded, but not released, by her

kit brash (kit brash), Monday, 18 October 2004 02:55 (twenty-one years ago)

(THAT'S NIC DALTON, FORMER BASSIST FOR THE LEMONHEADS, CLASSIC OR DUD?)

classic classic classic classic. but then again, my band records for his label. but he is by far the sweetest guy i've ever met who's played for smudge, godstar, sneeze, the lemonheads and the hummingbirds. evan is a sweet guy, too, but he was never in the hummingbirds (i don't think!), so nic wins.

fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 18 October 2004 14:34 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...
Two nights in NYC. I feel like a kid again.

Je4nn3 butterscotch streelamps light my path ƒur¥ (Je4nne Fury), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 16:45 (twenty years ago)

six months pass...
What are the other ex Lemonheads up to these days? Ben Diely, Corg, Jesse, etc.
Jesse is directing a new Zach Braff movie, and
After nearly a year of creative duties on the Microsoft account (at San Francisco's McCann Worldgroup)--and "almost apocalyptic levels of whining"--Ben Deily has accepted the post of Associate Creative Director at an undisclosed but allegedly "wicked cool" advertising agency in the scenic idyll of Portland, Maine.
The last I heard (prob. easily googleable) Dando, Bill Stevenson, and Karl Alvarez were recording a new Lemonheads album for Vagrant.

Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Sunday, 11 June 2006 15:51 (nineteen years ago)

CHRIST, i hated the lemonheads. hate hate HATE. hearing "ray" or that FUCKING "mrs robinson" cover reminds me of everything i loathed about being 16.

and that dreadful twee kids-drawing album cover ... AAAARGH! THE BILE! DESTROY!

dud, then.

grimly fiendish (grimlord), Sunday, 11 June 2006 18:46 (nineteen years ago)

Yep. They're at Vagrant now. Pitchfork says that the Dando-self-funded-(ooh) album is due out in the fall.

shanecavanaugh (shanecavanaugh), Monday, 12 June 2006 00:07 (nineteen years ago)

I didn't feel too strongly either way about this band, but I really loved "The Great Big No".

J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Monday, 12 June 2006 06:12 (nineteen years ago)

I don't know how such a band can inspire such hatred. I mean, that Mrs Robinson cover wasn't great, as the band admit themselves, but Shame About Ray, Come On Feel and various other bits and bobs are absolutely lovely.

Stew (stew s), Monday, 12 June 2006 09:06 (nineteen years ago)

Ben Deily has a band now called Varsity Drag, iirc. You can hear their stuff on MySpace. I give it the thumbs up.

Incidentally, Lemonheads = total classic, particularly up to and including LOVEY. I still like the stuff after that, but not as much.

BlastsOfStatic (BlastsofStatic), Monday, 12 June 2006 13:18 (nineteen years ago)

one month passes...
Huh, the Varsity Drag stuff ain't too bad. Well I think it's more about familiarity, but I'm still digging it.

alex in montreal (alex in montreal), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 13:09 (nineteen years ago)

I'm new, but the C/D thing weirds me out. As much as I like the Lemonheads, they're obviously not a "classic" band -- not even in the private Rolodex of my acne-ridden heart. They're a asterisk at best. Like the Hard-Ons. Does that automatically consign them to dudhood?

Uh-uh. The first few albums are about as good as pop-punk can hope to get, and they've got a healthy double fistful of worthy tracks spread across their career in rock.

Neither.

fuckfuckingfuckedfucker (fuckfuckingfuckedfucker), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 14:13 (nineteen years ago)

There. Just had to get that outta my system. I see it as a "coming of age" thing...

fuckfuckingfuckedfucker (fuckfuckingfuckedfucker), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 14:14 (nineteen years ago)

The Hard-Ons entered world-standard classic status last week with two paragraphs of the interview with Blackie in Unbelievably Bad #3.

kit brash (kit brash), Thursday, 27 July 2006 08:45 (nineteen years ago)

one month passes...
They're back!

http://myspace.com/thelemonheads

(No Backbone, the new single. With J Mascis on guitar and two Descendents on drums and bass.)

StanM (StanM), Monday, 28 August 2006 10:34 (nineteen years ago)

Not even worth wasting a dud on. Who does Dando share a dealer with that he's getting another chance?

i'll mitya halfway (mitya), Monday, 28 August 2006 11:26 (nineteen years ago)

there's no way that an eleven-year-old cover is going to be the comeback single

is there?

k!t (kit brash), Monday, 28 August 2006 11:44 (nineteen years ago)

Who does Dando share a dealer with that he's getting another chance?

So many bands love him, I bet he is the dealer.

StanM (StanM), Monday, 28 August 2006 11:53 (nineteen years ago)

i now have no backbone burned 24 times in a row on one cd. that's all it is. that song. over and over again.

how do i shot rep 1 function

Marmot (marmotwolof), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 05:04 (nineteen years ago)

'Hannah & Gabi' made me want to become a pedal steel player. So I did. The lines on it are so lovely.

Huey in Melbourne (Huey in Melbourne), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 05:25 (nineteen years ago)

Kit OTM, No Backbone isn't the new single, it's just a track off the new album. Sorry for the confusion.

"28th August 2006
The forthcoming Lemonheads single Become The Enemy got its first UK radio play today, on BBC 6 Music."

( http://www.evandando.co.uk )

StanM (StanM), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 05:38 (nineteen years ago)

I hope the new stuff really does sound like The Buzzcocks. That would be fun.

Marmot (marmotwolof), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 05:45 (nineteen years ago)

i like evan just fine but of all the dudes whose moment has passed, he's one of them.

gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 06:02 (nineteen years ago)

"i know a place where i can go...."

OBLIVION

timmy tannin (pompous), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 06:09 (nineteen years ago)

That was a cover, too.

Marmot (marmotwolof), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 06:13 (nineteen years ago)

My favourite Lemonheads track is Mallo Cup, I think.

StanM (StanM), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 06:35 (nineteen years ago)

He was giving off the vibe of someone who should be admitted to hospital when I saw him play last year

PaulTMA, Friday, 13 February 2026 22:10 (three months ago)

"Our reader said that his wife was dealing with being sent unsolicited, unwanted videos from Evan Dando, the founder and frontman of 90s alternative-rock mainstays The Lemonheads, and those videos depict him masturbating. They were both grossed out by it, angry, and weren’t sure what to do about it."

So they had two choices:
a) Call the cops and give them the video
b) Send the video to some obscure blog

Very odd...

riveter (strangeangel), Tuesday, 17 February 2026 23:39 (three months ago)

Ah right, the cops, who notoriously are helpful with sexual crimes

Abby Gore (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 17 February 2026 23:44 (three months ago)

My girlfriend once got sent dick pics for hours one night. Called the cops who basically made it clear they didn't gaf or care about discovering who it was. Which it took me only one hour to solve using Google and Facebook.

So the choice was more like, hmm, do i share it w/ the cops who all giggle about it after i hang up, or share it with a blog and get the bad behavior exposed broadly so he actually stops doing it to people

Gee, which one would I choose

Abby Gore (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 17 February 2026 23:50 (three months ago)

valuable new posters eight posts in 12.5 years tbf

uploading this content requires perseveration (sic), Wednesday, 18 February 2026 04:11 (three months ago)

Did notice that

Abby Gore (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 18 February 2026 04:12 (three months ago)


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